Breaking The Ice
by zimirk
Summary: The Cold family is back and a new evil is on the horizon


Disclaimer: I do not own the Dragonball Z characters and am not making any money off of this story. The characters and concept of the Dragonball Z show belong to Funimation. The original character "Ice" belongs to me, ZIM!

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Breaking The Ice

--

A tranquil breeze swept past the snow-capped peak, atop which a sole figure stood resolute. No living creature had trespassed here until now, the conditions too harsh for life to take hold. The strange being was an alien to the landscape, and the landscape seemed alien to him. The pure white skin that covered his muscled form almost made him blend into the background of snow and clouds. His arms were crossed, his long tail swaying behind him as the gentle wind caressed his form, the hand-like fingers that were his feet pointing downward as he hovered slightly off the cold snow-packed ground. Eyes closed, his mind deep in thought as he contemplated his future. His entire family was dead. His mother, at the hands of his evil father, King Cold. His younger brother, Cooler, at the hands of a Saiyan named Goku. Eventually his other brother, Frieza, and his father were killed also. Ice had never liked the latter two, and therefore shed no tears for them. His grief lay with the passing of his mother, Snow, and of his brother, Cooler.

Snow was one of the only souls who had shown him any kindness. Her skin was as pale as her name suggested, the good within her denoting the colour of her skin. Cooler on the other hand, while evil and seemingly heartless on the outside, secretly barricaded the same light that their mother once had, the same good that had ended when their father took it upon himself to murder her. It was on that day that Ice, the elder brother of the Cold family, deserted. King Cold labeled him a traitor, and had sent Cooler to track him down. They encountered one another several years later. The two brothers could not bring themselves to fight one another. Instead, on that day they both made a pact that when their father was finally eliminated they would reunite. That day never came. Cooler, seeing his brother Frieza destroyed by a Saiyan, decided to have his revenge. For some reason Cooler had always believed that Frieza could somehow be redeemed. It was all in vain. Ice never had a chance to warn him, to halt the rage that had blinded Cooler to self-destruction.

Ice had wept for them. He had consoled himself to been the last of his family. He had loved his mother and his brother, both had been so good to him when he was young, both trying to protect him from the corruption that had poisoned the hearts of both his father and Frieza. Now they were gone. No thoughts of revenge entered his mind. Only sorrow. Grief for the fact that two great souls had been erased from existence. Ice suddenly opened his eyes, the black pools slowly changing to a pale blue as realisation struck him. With a quick look into the sky above, Ice vanished. The wind continued to blow.

--

Green hands gently covered the seed with soil. The seed was delicate, and very important. One day it would grow into a great tall tree, a tree which would help support the people that had relocated there after their original home world had been destroyed. The trees were not a source of food, for the Namekians did not require food to live. The trees were important for other reasons. The Namek who had just planted the seed looked up from his crouched position to see a white figure suddenly appear out of nowhere. He was alarmed by the sudden appearance, a shred of fear flickered across his face as he recognised the form of their enemy, an enemy who had long thought to be dead. The Namek stood quickly as the alien being walked with a determined step towards him. He was all alone, in the middle of a field of grass and newly planted seeds. No help would be coming for him, not that it would make any difference. Shivering slightly as the creature stopped before him, he spoke with a voice that belayed the fear that he felt within.

"Can I help you?"

The alien looked him over with its pale blue eyes, a hint of a smile on his otherwise featureless face.

"You might," it replied in a deep male voice. "I am looking for the Dragon Balls."

For a moment the young Namekian thought of defying the creature, refusing to help or even denying the existence of the Dragon Balls. Then the alien did something that he did not expect.

"I did not mean to startle you earlier," it spoke again, extending its rather large hand with a smile. "My name is Ice."

"Liano," the Namek replied, extending his hand and shaking the hand of his supposed enemy.

"Nice to meet you, Liano," again with that smile.

Withdrawing his hand, Liano cautiously examined Ice, attempted to fathom whether he was friend or foe.

"You have no reason to fear me, I am not here to cause any trouble."

"If that is true, then I may be able to help you," replied Liano. "Follow me please."

Since the young Namek could not yet fly, he started walking in the direction of his village. With Ice following, Liano began thinking. If the creature that called itself Ice had ill intent, he would not be alive right now, nor would the alien need his help finding the Dragon Balls. Rather, Ice would right now be torturing him for information. Although Liano did not know where the Dragon Balls were hidden, he did know someone who did. The two made no further attempts at conversation, although on several occasions Ice seemed like he wanted to say something, but held his tongue. This puzzled Liano, but decided against pursuing the matter. After about half an hour of walking, the pair emerged from behind a hill and came upon Liano's village. Approaching the hamlet bore witness to the same reactions that Liano had less than an hour ago. All of the villagers either had their mouths agape or had fled within their homes with their children. The village elder was waiting in the centre of the square that marked the crossroads of the small town. Liano was quickly at the elder's side, bowing quickly and whispering to him the events that had taken place in the fields. Upon hearing this strange tale, the elder approached Ice with caution. Ice bowed his head, which surprised many.

"Welcome, the one who is called Ice," the elder stated evenly, attempting to be civil whist great fear ebbed at him.

"I am honoured that you have received me."

"Young Liano tells me that you come seeking the Dragon Balls."

"That is correct."

"May I ask why?"

"You may," Ice replied. "However it is a personal matter which I would rather not disclose at the present moment. You can be rest assured that my intentions, however, are of good purpose."

"Very well, follow me."

--

The last Dragon Ball was placed next to the others. Upon the speaking of the password, the great dragon appeared. Porunga. Ice had learned how to speak Namekian, among other languages, when he was still very young, before his youngest brother had been born, and when Cooler had only been a baby. It was an education that his mother had decided necessary, but his father had thought as a waste of time. Never were his sons going to engage in diplomacy. His wishes were simple. Firstly he wished that his mother were restored to life. It was granted. Secondly he wished that his brother, Cooler, were restored to life. It was granted. Thirdly, he wished that his brother, Cooler, had all evil erased from him. It was granted. With all wishes dispensed, Porunga descended and the Dragon Balls dispersed. Ice glanced up into space, sensing the power of his newly restored family far off on his home planet. With his business done on the planet of New Namek, Ice said his farewells to those that had assisted him, and then quickly departed in the fashion he had appeared. He vanished.

--

The freezing wind howled, a dust of white floated across a barren landscape of compacted snow. Amidst this almost inhospitable place, was a city. This city, which sparkled in the light of a rising sun, was the capital of the Ice-jin Empire. Tall spires of glass and crystal towered above the land. The streets, coated in years of frozen rain, were empty. Every building and structure in the metropolis was deserted. Not a living soul existed in the once vibrant city to tell its history, its memory. The planet itself was desolate. All its inhabitants had fled when all its rulers had departed this dimension. The once glorious Empire was in ruins, a patchwork of systems well removed from the planet of Ice involved in a long struggle for dominance. Then, it all changed. There was a brief disturbance of the natural order, and then two figures emerged. One, a female, was short and pale, wearing a long flowing robe of white silk. The other, a tall heavily muscled male fitted in white armour over pale purple skin. Both were staring at the other, confusion clearly etched on their faces, their tails flicking timidly. A second later a new form appeared out of nothingness, which prompted the two Ice-jin Royals to form a defensive posture by reflex. This was soon relaxed as they recognised the newcomer as their kin. The light-side of the Cold Family had been reunited.

For a moment they stood silent. However Snow could no longer look on her two sons and not weep. It was not for sadness that she wept, but for happiness. Joy flooded her as she realised this was not a dream, that she had returned from the after-life and so had her second-born child, Cooler. The fact that Ice was also there proved that this was his doing. But Snow could not care less. They were all alive and together, and that was all that mattered. In seconds she had her arms around Ice, pulling him down to his knees as he was so tall, hugging and crying. Releasing her first-born, she grasped Cooler and did the same to him. While both males held their tears, they both held within them the same joy, the same immense happiness that they had been reunited after so much pain and suffering. The knowledge that they would never have to endure heartache again lifted their hearts. After Snow and Cooler had embraced, Cooler and Ice came face to face. Both of equal height and build, both not sure whether they could embrace the other like they had their mother. Eventually, with the gaze of their maternal parent encouraging both to act, they came to hug each other, finally releasing a tear each as they finally did what they could never do while under the watchful gaze of their father: they embraced, arms around the other, great relief and joy flooding their spirits.

After a time, they let go. Wiping away their stray tears, they resumed their masculine postures, even when there was no real social reason to do so. Snow laughed inwardly at this show. Of all the things they would do at a time like this, it was a show of maleness.

"So..." she began. "Care to explain why we are here?"

"Or more importantly, how did we get here?" Cooler added.

Ice took a moment to calm his nerves at the shock of seeing his kin alive. He had not thought they would have such an affect on him. However the voices of his mother and brother soothed all his worries and concerns.

"I wished you back," Ice replied, as if that was going to explain everything. "With the Dragon Balls."

"What are the Dragon Balls?" Snow asked, a curious expression on her face.

"They are magical objects which enable the user to make wishes," Cooler filled in, much to the shock of Ice. "When all seven are brought together a dragon appears and will grant these wishes."

"How did you know that?" Ice inquired, quickly coming to his senses.

"Frieza told me about them before going off to Namek," Cooler replied. "He said he wanted to be immortal or something like that. I never really believed him. I said he was been stupid thinking such things exist or were even possible. I guess I was wrong."

"They are real, I assure you," Ice nodded in confirmation. "I wished you both back to life and, I hope you do not mind, I kind of had all those evil feelings taken away from you Cooler."

"Why would I mind?" Cooler replied. "I like myself better now than I did before. I may only be a few minutes restored to this dimension, but I would never had cried a tear or hugged you like that before. In fact, I should be thanking you for what you have done. I did not think you cared enough to wish me back."

"Yes, Ice, that was a very thoughtful thing for you to do for your brother," Snow expressed.

"We are family, right?" Ice replied. "And family stick together. Besides, I was lonely, and I need someone at my level to have fun with."

"What kind of fun would that be?" Cooler inquired.

"Oh, you know, sparring, wrestling, having some good fights and arguments, the usual sibling rivalry."

Ice and Cooler both grinned at this pronouncement, at the same time getting a slight scowl from their mother.

"You will not be doing any of that while I am around."

"Do not worry mother, we will find some desolate moon or asteroid field to play in," Cooler replied.

Ice laughed.

"You two are acting like children," Snow huffed. "You are both grown men. Act like it!"

"Come on mother," Ice interjected. "We did not have much of a childhood, let us just live it up a little. We will get serious about doing all the things you want us to do once we have had our fun."

"Please mother," Cooler begged. "We promise we will not get into trouble."

Snow could not help but smirk at their childlike attitudes at that moment. This was how it was meant to be when they were young, and it saddened her slightly to think of all the things that they had missed as children. She could not refuse them at least one day of getting to know each other all over again, at least in the way two male siblings do. She knew they would probably throw a few punches and kicks, but that was what they wanted.

"All right, you can go off and play, but only for a few hours. I want you back here so we can start rebuilding the Empire, understand?"

"Yes mother," the two brothers said in unison.

"Of course, we are a family too, so I guess we will be having a family dinner tonight, for the first time I might add."

"We cannot miss that, right?" Cooler asked Ice with a smile.

"No way!" Ice replied, grinning.

The two Ice-jin siblings launched themselves into the air, waving back at their mother as they went searching for a place of solitude. They had both acted strongly in front of Snow in order to get this break, especially so short a time since they had been reunited. But Cooler had recognised that Ice needed to talk about something important. Been able to read what the other is thinking is something that all siblings share in common, an unspoken bond that develops even in the most terrible of conditions. And so it was that Cooler and Ice found themselves on the shore of a frozen lake, far from their mother and even further from prying eyes.

"All right, what is this about?" Cooler asked as they landed. "Why was this so important that you had to drag me away from mother?"

"Cooler, do you remember when we were little we used to share the same bedroom?"

"What?" Cooler replied, not exactly sure where this was going.

"Do you remember when father would beat us, we would share the same bed and comfort each other?"

"Yes..."

"When you held me in your arms it made me feel like I was not as horrible as father made me out as, it made me feel like I was loved, at least more than what mother showed. I have always known she loved me, that she loved all of us, even though father would beat her as well. I guess I never expected you to care for me like you did, and I just wanted to say thank you."

Throughout this retelling Ice had been gazing downcast at the ground, not really knowing how Cooler would react to this very personal recounting of their childhood years. Cooler had indeed reacted, by gently taking his brother in his arms and hugging him tightly.

"I feel the same way, bro," Cooler replied, tears once again coming to his eyes. "I should be thanking you for all the times you held me after father had hurt me."

Ice smiled among the free flowing tears. "I love you bro."

Cooler pushed away from Ice at this pronouncement, momentarily confused by what his brother had just said. Holding his brother at arms length, Cooler saw the pain in his brother's eyes at what must have appeared as rejection, which was certainly not his intention. Pulling Ice back into a hug, Cooler placed his head on his brother's shoulder and whispered into Ice's ear. "I love you too."


End file.
